Chapter 97: You Can’t Do This

“No, Frederick, you can’t do this! Didn’t you ask me to take the bullet for Caroline? If you shoot me, I will die. There will be no one to take the bullet for Caroline.”

“You know how dangerous it is around you. Only if you keep me can Caroline live better.”

Claire got out of the car, rushed over, and grabbed the pistol from Frederick’s hand.

“No, Caroline will be better off if you die. Arthur has tracked down Caroline. It’s time for you to take the bullet for her.”

“As long as you die with Caroline’s face, Arthur will think that Caroline is dead. Then, Caroline will no longer be in any danger.”

Frederick sneered and pulled the trigger.

“That’s not the case, Frederick. Think about it. How could Arthur be the only danger around you? Many other people are threatening you!”

“You can’t just consider Arthur. You have to keep me alive to deal with other people.”

Claire held the pistol tightly and tried to persuade him frantically.

But before she could finish, Frederick picked up the pistol and shot her dead. The bullet hit right between her eyebrows!

“Don’t…”

Claire fell to the ground before she could finish her words, blood gushing from her head. The familiar warmth started from her forehead and spread to her eyes and cheeks. There was also the familiar smell of blood, almost the same as what she had smelled in prison during the past four years.

Claire felt like she was about to die. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. Her sweat poured from her body, and she was becoming increasingly suffocated. So, it was what death felt like.

Not a moment later, she felt her eyelids growing heavier and heavier. Just when she couldn’t support herself and was about to close her eyes, she suddenly heard a ringing sound, seemingly the sound of a cell phone.

Then, Claire trembled and suddenly opened her eyes. She saw that it was pitch black all around, so she quickly got up and turned on the light.

Claire went to the bathroom in the ward and rubbed her forehead in front of the mirror. Looking around carefully, she found that she was still in the hospital. It turned out that everything that had just happened was a dream. She wasn’t dead, and she wasn’t wearing any makeup.

Claire calmed herself down. She still felt uneasy, so she reached out and pinched her thigh hard.

“Ouch!”

The sudden pain made her wake up completely. She thought, “Fortunately, everything that just happened was a dream. If it were true, I would be dead now.”

That night, after waking up from the dream, Claire couldn’t fall asleep again. She lay on the bed with her eyes closed, her mind filled with the image of Frederick about to shoot her in the head. There was also the bloodiness and warmth of blood. She didn’t sleep the whole night, and she was terrified.

Early the following day, before daybreak, Claire suddenly sat up. She thought she should leave. Otherwise, Frederick would definitely choose to sacrifice her when he had to choose between her and Caroline. Late at night was always the time when a person was most vulnerable. The more Claire thought about it, the scarier she became.

In the end, before daybreak, Claire didn’t even bother to go through the discharge procedures and ran out of the hospital. But she didn’t know where she could run to or where she could hide. There was almost no place in Kingstown that Frederick could not find.

Claire stood at the hospital entrance for a long time. Then, a taxi came. The driver asked her if she wanted to leave. Claire nodded and got in the taxi. When she got in, the driver asked her where she was going. She thought for a moment and asked, “Is there any place in Kingstown that is the most chaotic?”

“The slum,” the driver replied after thinking for a moment.

“Slum? Okay. Let’s go there!”

Claire had also heard of the Kingstown slum, so she decided immediately.

About an hour later, Claire got off the taxi in the slum. But she had never expected that as soon as she got out, a pistol was pointed at her head.